The Great Storm
by Moreian Wolf
Summary: A vicious storm hits The Shire leaving Frodo and Sam stranded- Who will save them?
1. An Unwanted Arrival

The Great Storm  
  
I do not own any characters from lord of the rings, or anything else from lord of the rings, I am just a mere fan. First fanfic- Please r&r  
  
Rain had come in the Shire. It stood to reason that most of the Hobbits were in the Green Dragon, talking and laughing. All Hobbits that is, but two. Merry and Pippin. "Oh Merry, I hate the rain. You can't go out and have fun." Pippin sighed.  
  
"Aye. Only good for ducks that is." He sipped his pint. "Maybe it'll stop soon."  
  
"Hopefully. But I don't think there's much chance of that to be honest." Quite ironically, just as the words left Pippin's lips it began to rain harder.  
  
"Here, where do you think Frodo got to?"  
  
"I was just wondering that.he was right behind us when we left!"  
  
The group of four Hobbits, Merry, Pippin, Frodo and Sam, had been playing down by the Road when it had started to drizzle. "Come on! We should go!" Pippin had yelled.  
  
"We'll come in a minute! Just going to collect these mushrooms. Catch you up!"  
  
"Aye alright then. See you at the Green Dragon!". So, Merry and Pippin had run off up the hill leaving the other two to their collecting. It had since been fifteen minutes.  
  
"Maybe they went straight home Pip. That would make sense."  
  
"Yes. I hope so anyway, we don't want them getting ill.or missing." He shuddered.  
  
"Now don't think like that! They're fine, I know it." He drank again and watched the window become wetter and wetter.  
  
*  
  
It turned out Frodo and Sam had tried to go home but couldn't quite manage it with all the mushrooms, and the hill had got a lot more slippery. So, as any sensible Hobbit would, they'd stopped under a tree to wait for the weather to calm down a little. "Sam, this is your fault." Said Frodo.  
  
"My fault? How?"  
  
"If you weren't so bent on getting all these mushrooms we'd be in the Green Dragon now."  
  
"No use blaming and pointing fingers Mr. Frodo.we're here now so we'd be best to put up with it." He said firmly. Frodo frowned and refused to look at Sam, instead curling himself up into a ball. "It's not that bad here."  
  
"Well I'm cold." He replied sulkily. "I'm going to get some leaves or something."  
  
He stood up and walked around searching for a big leaf to cover his freezing body. No such luck. A huge echo of thunder rippled across the sky, and the rain turned to hail.  
  
"Frodo get back here, you'll catch your death!"  
  
"No, I have to find a cover!" but just as he walked off further, a bolt of lightning hit a tree in the distant, shattering it to pieces. "Second thoughts I'm coming back!" he yelled and ran back to Sam.  
  
"You know, it probably isn't a good idea sitting under a tree in a storm."  
  
"Well it couldn't get much worse could it Sam?" As ironic as this event was, the split tree burst into flames not ten feet from them. Frodo groaned and hit himself on the head. "Now what?"  
  
*  
  
Meanwhile, back in the pub, Merry and Pippin had heard the storm approaching too and were slightly nervous about it. "Sounds vicious that Pip."  
  
"Mm. I really do wish Frodo and Sam are at home."  
  
"Hang on a minute! If they had gone home, we would've seen them go up that path!" he exclaimed pointing madly out of the window. They both stood quickly "There's no other way up to Bag End!"  
  
"You mean.?"  
  
"Yes Pippin. They must still be out there." They both looked slowly out the window and saw the flames from the tree creep into view.  
  
"Out there?" Pippin squeaked. "What're we going to do?"  
  
"It looks like we're going to have to save them."  
  
"Go out there.in the storm.and the fire."  
  
"Yes." Pippin fell over backwards, fainting. 


	2. Fire!

The Great Storm  
Chapter 2  
  
By the time Merry had woken Pippin (by tipping his pint over him), and managed to get them both out of the pub, the fire had spread dangerously. Frodo and Sam were now only six feet from the flames.  
  
"Sam!" Frodo cried out in horror.  
  
"It's ok Mr. Frodo, it's going to be alright." But Frodo could tell by the panic in his eyes that Sam was not altogether sure of his statement. He was in fact figuring out a way to get past the tree without getting burnt. However, it did look hopeless.  
  
Frodo looked down again at the flames creeping closer and closer by the second and tried to scuttle backwards, failing miserably by banging into the tree. "Come here," said Sam and took him into his cloak to keep safe. The wind blew eerily round their necks, chilling them to the bone. Frodo shivered slightly, and wrapped Sam's cloak around him tighter.  
  
*  
  
Merry put his hood up, squinting into the gusts. "Come on Pip!" he shouted over his shoulder.  
  
"Why is it so cold Merry? It's freezing."  
  
"It doesn't matter. We have to find Frodo and Sam, think about the cold later." And they set off down the path, shivering as they went. The path itself had become horribly muddy and hard to walk down, making it even harder for them to find their poor companions.  
  
Pippin seemed to feel the cold a lot more than Merry. As youngest and most innocent, he was sensitive to changes in the atmosphere.particularly a big change such as this. It did not seem like a normal storm to him, it felt different.evil almost. Most cold winds would freeze a person's face.but this wind froze Pippin's heart. He just felt lifeless, like a shell.  
  
He stopped suddenly, and stared at the floor, wide-eyed. "Pippin?" Merry called, realizing he'd frozen to the spot. "What is it?"  
  
"I.I feel cold."  
  
"Look everyone's cold Pip. Don't you care about anyone else?"  
  
"No I mean really cold.too cold." he stammered, breathing hard.  
  
"Are you alright?"  
  
"I.don't.know." his throat tightened. "Merry! I can't breathe!" Merry ran over and Pippin collapsed into his arms, dragging them both to the floor. He gasped for breath, clinging to Merry's cloak.  
  
"Pip? Pip it's okay, calm down, just take it easy." But he could not. It was scaring him, for it was not just the feeling of not being able to breathe, but he had a whole series of images flashing through his mind. He squirmed helplessly for a few minutes before laying still, eyes fastened open, making him seem as though he were in a trance. "Pippin? Pippin wake up!! PIPPIN!"  
  
*  
  
The flames swept quickly over the ground, leaving Frodo and Sam only one choice. "Frodo, we're going to have to leap through to get out!". They were almost encircled, but if they could get to the other side, they would be safe. It was dangerous of course, but you have to take risks in life.  
  
"Okay." Frodo agreed, sweating from the heat. "We'll do it."  
  
"Right. We'll jump out to the left, it looks the less fiercest there. I'll go first if you want, and shout back if it's safe, yeah?"  
  
"Yes. That would be best. I don't feel I have the energy to shout." He was becoming dizzy.  
  
Sam looked apprehensively at the fire for a brief moment before taking a running jump through. Frodo heard him fall down the other side, and then silence. "Sam?"  
  
"It's okay Mr. Frodo! Jump through!" but he did not want to.  
  
"But.I.are you sure?"  
  
"Yes I'm sure as can be, now come on. It's fine." Frodo stood up and could see Sam there, still on the floor. He frowned slightly and wiped his brow.he really was feeling quite tired now, but best not to let Sam now. He could do it, he was sure of himself.  
  
"Okay! I'll do it!" he walked close to the flickering and gulped, taking a mighty jump.  
  
"Frodo? Frodo where are you?" called Sam, for it had fallen deathly silent. 


	3. Misunderstandings

Everything was dark and cold. The world had become so painful, so dull and damp. There was nothing there but a dry desert, save a strong gust of wind. There were no men, hobbits, elves or anything. There were not even any plants growing in the cracks of the blackened ground. The wind grew stronger and suddenly...boom! An explosion of fire and bright light, people screaming in pain and horror, their faces slashed by Orc-Blades, and there in the middle was a stunned Hobbit- laying in total agony, crying out for help, his face torched...  
  
"FRODO!" Pippin shouted, awakening from his visions. He panted hard, slowly remembering where he was, but he could not understand why he was on the floor.  
  
"Pippin? Oh Pippin you're alive!" cheered Merry. "I thought you were dead."  
  
"What? What happened?" Merry's smile faded and he kneeled down.  
  
"You..you couldn't breathe, and then you sort of fainted. What was that about Frodo?"  
  
"Oh Merry it was horrible! I had these thoughts. It was just nothing at first, a great black emptiness, but then there was this bang and everything was on fire! Merry, I saw Hobbits. They were hurt, and there were these twisted, mutated creatures there...hurting them!" he sounded remarkable like a child, for he had never come across Orcs before. "And then...I saw Frodo."  
  
"What happened with Frodo?"  
  
"He was burnt. He was burning, and screaming...all the screaming!" he put his hands over his ears, as if trying to block a terrible noise out. What Pippin didn't know, was that the storm was from far across the lands, in a distant country that housed the most evil creatures, and the most evil wizard known to the three peoples of middle earth. Pippin had picked up on his anger and his distraught.  
  
*  
  
The silence grew stronger, except the faint flickering of the flames. Sam could hear nothing, not his companion's voice, nor his footsteps. "FRODO! WHERE ARE YOU?" he yelled. He could not have gone far, for the fire was not deep. Perhaps he had never jumped through, and was now sitting there scared stiff. He had to hope. "It's okay Frodo, I'll come back! Just you wait there!" and he stood again.  
  
Poor Sam had no idea. No idea that Frodo was not sitting in the circle by the tree waiting to be rescued. But nor was he laying in the fire, burning as Pippin had said. In fact, he had not jumped through the fire. He had jumped into a small bush by the side, and there he had collapsed...far too tired to attempt returning Sam's call. He knew the fire would reach there soon, but if destiny would have him burn then he was not going to argue.  
  
Sam leapt though the circle once more, this time catching the tail of his cloak on fire. He put it out instantly by stamping on it. Upon seeing that Frodo was not by the tree, he took the assumption that he must, ultimately, be dead. "FRODO!!" he shouted wildly. "NO!"  
  
"Sam..." Frodo whispered to himself. "I'm...not...dead." But his voice was going. He could do nothing now. He was already considered dead- now he would just confirm it. He had it planned out in his head...they would find his body the next day after everything had turned to charcoal. Then he would be taken to Bag End where he would be placed next to Bilbo's bed and there he would stay. But Frodo was not sad or angry, just disappointed he was to die here and not of old age after spending many happy years with his cousins, Merry and Pippin. But he did not want to think of them, for it would disappoint him more.  
  
*  
  
However much Frodo did not want to think of him, Pippin was trying to get up and save him; but failing miserably. "Pip, you're in no state to go in and fight a fire! You've got to rest."  
  
"No...Frodo's in danger...I know it." But he too was exhausted, and could not move. "You go."  
  
"Don't be so stupid! I'm not leaving you here by yourself."  
  
"But...the..."  
  
"I know...I know." Merry looked downhearted. "I can't leave you. I've got to get you home. We don't even know if they're really out there anyway." He soothed. "They could be in the Green Dragon right now."  
  
"Well...alright. But if we find out tomorrow that..."  
  
"We won't. Trust me on this." Merry smiled, helped Pippin up, and they trudged back up the path. 


End file.
